"What can I help you with?"
Chen Che greeted him.
"Just looking around!"
The man had a shifty, rat-like face and a lazy, insolent posture.
He squatted before the stall, carelessly pawing through the merchandise. After a cursory glance at each item, he would toss it aside, his movements exceedingly rough. "You look a little new here, friend!"
'He's here to cause trouble.'
Chen Che narrowed his eyes.
Generally, interested customers would pick up an item and examine it with care. But not this man. Any vendor who didn't know better would see this, feel a pang of concern for their merchandise, and instinctively try to stop him.
But that was the trap.
There were people in the Market who were, for all intents and purposes, local tyrants.
When they spotted a newcomer or an easy target, they would contrive a way to start trouble, deliberately provoking the vendor. Then, they would seize the moral high ground, claiming to be "in the right" so their victim had no recourse. Finally, they'd use the situation to extort some "compensation."
If you paid up, they'd back off.
If you didn't, they'd just keep at it.
Jinyun Valley was in charge of the Market, but as long as no major disturbance broke out, they wouldn't get involved in this sort of trivial nonsense.
Besides, they usually traveled in small groups. The average vendor just wanted to sell their wares and make a little money. They couldn't afford to offend these thugs, nor could they afford to waste time with them. In the end, they could only bow their heads and pay up.
"This is my first day. Please, go easy on me, brother."
Not wanting trouble, Chen Che handed over a tael of gold.
The man took the gold and weighed it in his hand. After sizing Chen Che up one more time, he tucked it inside his shirt.
But he didn't leave. Instead, he picked up the *Earth Skill* manual from the stall and flipped through it casually. Next, he grabbed a Jade Bottle and tipped out the Pill covered in black spots. He examined it with a mocking grin before deliberately shouting:
"Pal, this stuff you're selling is garbage!"
'So he thinks it's not enough?'
Chen Che thought, but said aloud, "You must be joking, sir. If I had treasures fit for a Golden Core or Nascent Soul cultivator, I wouldn't be selling them in a Market like this!"
"Haha!"
"He's right!"
Passersby, who were never ones to shy away from a good spectacle, burst into laughter.
The shifty-eyed man heard the jeers from the crowd and seethed with frustration. But what Chen Che said was true, leaving him with no outlet for his anger. This was, after all, just a Market where Qi Refining Loose Cultivators gathered; the quality of goods was what it was.
However, he wasn't a complete fool. He took a deep breath to calm himself, picked up a Jade Bottle, and asked, "What kind of Pill is this?"
"A Body Nourishing Pill,"
Chen Che replied.
He had been refining a good number of Pills recently and had stockpiled a few bottles.
Now that he was at the Market, he figured he might as well sell them.
The rat-faced man listened, then tipped one out. He made a show of inspecting it before abruptly shouting, "This Pill is a fake!"
Without even waiting for Chen Che to respond, he shot to his feet and bellowed at the surrounding crowd, "This kid is trying to pass off Fake Pills! He's trying to harm people! It's a good thing I found out. What if I'd bought your Pills and something had gone wrong? Who would I even turn to for help then?"
He had a booming voice.
Many of the passersby in the Market turned to look, their curiosity piqued.
Chen Che glanced at the man.
Heh, he even knows how to weaponize public opinion.
After all, the Market was just a venue for trade. Quality and authenticity were up to the buyer's judgment. All sales were final, buyer beware.
But for a merchant, reputation is everything.
If this guy successfully made a scene, he was afraid it would be a long time before he could sell anything in this Market again.
"One tael of Spiritual Sand!"
Seeing the crowd gather around them, the rat-faced man crouched down, held up a finger, and whispered, "Give it to me, and I'll leave. I'll even help you clear this up. I'll just say I made a mistake, that it was all a misunderstanding."
He spoke with a practiced smoothness; clearly, he'd done this a time or two before.
"I don't need you to clarify anything," Chen Che said, slowly shaking his head.
"A tough guy, huh? We'll see how long you last."
The man sneered, then turned and bellowed to the crowd again, pointing at Chen Che. "This kid's using fake medicine to trick people! Everyone, get a good look at his face, and don't fall for his tricks!"
"Just think about it!"
"If you accidentally buy a fake medicine, it's one thing if it just doesn't work when you take it on a normal day. But what if you're injured in Magical Combat? You use his medicine, and it does nothing! You'd be throwing your life away for nothing—what a terrible waste!"
The rat-faced man's words were pure incitement.
He acted as if he'd genuinely been cheated by Chen Che, his pointing finger even trembling with manufactured rage.
"Is he really selling fake medicine?"
"Seems so."
"Then we have to be careful."
The surrounding pedestrians didn't know the full story, but what the man said sounded plausible, and they couldn't help but stare at Chen Che a little longer.
As if they were truly trying to memorize his face.
"Five taels of Spiritual Sand!"
The rat-faced man turned his head and mouthed the words at Chen Che.
He looked at the noisy crowd, his eyes filled with smug triumph. In this situation, even the most stubborn person would have no choice but to obediently pay up to make it go away. Otherwise, he would just keep shouting and prevent his target from doing any business at all.
He was a local thug, and he had all the time in the world to wear them down.
But the thought had barely crossed his mind.
He only saw Chen Che suddenly grip the sword on his back.
Before he could react.
SHIING!
The sound of a longsword being drawn and sheathed rang out almost simultaneously.
The crowd saw only a flash of sword light. Immediately after, the rat-faced man's right hand, which had been gesturing at Chen Che, was severed clean across the palm. Blood gushed as all five fingers fell to the ground.
It all happened so fast.
The rat-faced man stared in shock for a moment before letting out a bloodcurdling scream. "AAGGH!" The intense pain finally registered, and he clutched his severed hand, cold sweat beading on his forehead.
But before anyone could react, Chen Che seized the man's maimed hand. His victim's struggles were useless; Chen Che simply stomped him to the ground. Terrified, the man screamed, "I exposed him for selling fake medicine... now he's trying to kill me to shut me up!"
Chen Che didn't bother to argue. With the crowd already biased against him, explanations would be useless.
Instead, in full view of the crowd, he calmly picked up one of his Pills, scraped off a bit of powder, and sprinkled it onto the man's bloody stump.
Instantly, the bleeding stopped. In the blink of an eye, a scab formed over the wound. Only then did Chen Che slowly lift his foot. "Now," he said, "tell me. Am I selling fake medicine?"
The rat-faced man scrambled away, his face white as a sheet.
A thug like him was an expert at reading people. Chen Che's actions told him everything he needed to know: he had messed with the wrong person.
It's human nature to bully the weak and fear the strong.
He didn't say a word, not daring to even mutter a threat for fear that a single wrong move would get his throat slit. Pale and clutching his mangled hand, he turned, retreated into the crowd, and scurried away in disgrace.
Chen Che, for his part, showed no reaction.
If taking a step back only encourages others to take a mile, then there's no point in stepping back at all.
However, thanks to the recent demonstration by that living advertisement, the previously deserted stall was now attracting a fair number of customers.
It even attracted Hu Yao, a disciple of Jinyun Valley.
"Friend," he said, "I hear you're selling Body Nourishing Pills. Is that true?"